News

Suspicious fires in the baylands Saturday

Three blazes cause two-alarm response

Three grass fires that occurred in the baylands between Palo Alto and East Palo Alto Saturday afternoon (Oct. 1) are being called suspicious by fire officials.

The two-alarm fires began at about 3:37 p.m. in the dry, grassy marshland on the north side of San Francisquito Creek in East Palo Alto. The area is at the end of O'Connor Street near the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Palo Alto Battalion Chief Niles Broussard said the fires were deemed suspicious and that juveniles were seen in the area prior to the blazes.

His department was called to the scene near Geng Road in Palo Alto but it was determined that the blazes were in the jurisdiction of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, which serves East Palo Alto, he said.

Menlo Park firefighters were on scene for 98 minutes, according to fire dispatch.